This invention relates generally to branch forming attachments and, more specifically, to a housing or pipe saddle which can be tightly secured to a variety of different size pipes.
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The concept of forming branch attachments to rigid and plastic tubing is known in the art. Generally, a pipe saddle is fastened around a pipe so that one can connect a branch tubing to a main tubing. Attaching a branch tubing to a main tubing often requires numerous steps and sometimes it is difficult to adequately seal the junction between the branch tubing and the main tubing.
The attaching device usually comprises two parts, a tap for forming the opening in the pipe and a saddle for holding the main tubing and the branch tubing in fluid communication.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,844 shows a tap or cutter having a through passage that both cuts a hole and forms a side attachment for the pipe. In the invention shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,844 the pipe clamp or saddle comprises two identical parts that when snapped together around a plastic pipe form a threaded recess to allow a user to threadingly drive the coupon cutter through the plastic pipe and position a branch pipe in fluid communication with the main tubing.
The self tapping branch attachments are particularly well suited for underground irrigation systems that require in situ forming of branch lines to a main tubing, but they are also useful in other systems and other locations that use rigid, resilient or flexible tubing.
Other branching concepts use a piercing of the main pipe with a pointed tap. One example of such type of a tap is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,150 that shows an irrigation system that uses a probe with a tapered point that is forced though the sidewall of the main pipe. In this embodiment a strap engages a loop to hold the saddle in position on the pipe.
Another embodiment using a tapered point is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,972 which shows a saddle tee for an irrigation line and a stem with a tapered point that is punched through the plastic pipe. The pipe clamp used in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,972 is also shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,855 and comprises two segments that are hinged at an intermediate point to allow the segments to spread apart and receive a pipe. A hook on each end of the segments engage each other to secure the device to a pipe.
Still another type of saddle tee is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,564 which has an arcuate body carrying a female fitting with a first clamp member laterally located on one side of the female fitting and a second clamp member laterally located on the opposite side of the female fitting. Since the clamps are laterally offset from the female fitting the holding force is also laterally offset from the circumferential region containing the hole in the pipe which could cause leakage problems around the junction between the saddle and the pipe.
While the above saddles with hooks and latches can be secured around a pipe it generally requires closely matching the diameter of the pipe with the diameter of the saddle in order to obtain a leakproof seal between the pipe and the saddle. Working against forming tight engagement around a pipe is the external hooking action required on saddles that use hooks. In order to use hooks to hold a saddle around a pipe it requires the hooks to perform two functions, one to engage the other hook and the second to maintain the two hooks in the engaged condition. In order to maintain the two hooks in an engaged condition each of the hooks are provided with sufficient depth so that the lips of the hooks cannot laterally slide past one another. As a result, this requires one to pull the ends of the hooks substantially past each other before they can be engaged. Once engaged the hooks are allowed to relax and engage each other. In effect, the strap must be substantially over tightened and then allowed to relax to the hooked condition. Consequently, it is sometimes difficult to tightly secure the saddle around the pipe and particularly if the saddle is to be used on pipes of different diameters since the saddle must be squeezed around the pipe and then allowed to relax to the hooked postion. Since the hooks generally require substantially over tightening before they arrive at a condition where the can be released to an engaged condition it can result in less than a tight clamp on a pipe.
The concept of cable ties is well known in the art. Generally, cable ties have a flexible strap that is wrapped around a bundle of wires with a head on one end that has teeth for forming locking engagement with a set of teeth located along the length of the flexible strap. The flexibility of the strap permits one to wrap the cable tie around any number of different size wires. Generally, the straps are narrow which allows the cable tie to flex and twist as they are squeezed around a bundle of wires or the like. While the flexibility of the strap permits engagement around different diameter loads and allows one to snug the cable tie tightly around the load, the flexibility of the strap lack limits the lateral support that might prevent twisting of the strap. Also the flexibility of the strap requires the strap to be pulled through a locking device in order to secure the cable tie around a bundle of wires.
In order to address the problem of tightly securing a branch attachment to a main pipe he present invention includes a pipe saddle with an elongated band that carries a branch extension and a set of teeth that can be linearly pushed into locking engagement in a hub by compressively squeezing on the hub and latching member to form tight circumferential securement of a pipe saddle around a pipe.
Briefly, the present invention comprises a pipe saddle having an elongated band with a radially outward extending hub on one end and a set of teeth extending along a latching member of the band. The hub includes an external finger engagement region and a tooth for engagement with a tooth on the latching member of the band. A finger engagement region on the latching member allows a user to use one hand to linearly push the latching member into latching engagement with the hub by squeezing on the two finger engagement regions. In order to prevent withdrawal of the latching member from the hub a stop in the hub maintains the teeth in engagement with each other to maintain the band in pressure engagement with a circumferential region of a pipe. By incorporating multiple teeth into the latching member the pipe saddle can be used with pipes of number of different diameter.